A Survivor's Journal
by MisterGutsy2299
Summary: A man's quest for love, revenge,survival and to save his Vault. This is A Survivor's Journal.
1. Chapter 1

ENCLAVE PRIVATE FILES DOCUMENT NUMBER #2299

SUBJECT: VAULT-TEC DIARY

ASSOCIATED PERSON: UNKNOWN

DATE: PRE-WAR TO WASTELAND ERA

CLASSIFIED INFO, PLEASE CONTACT LOCAL ADMINISTRATOR TO GAIN PERMISSION FOR SUBJECT USE

October 28, 2077

Wow where to begin? No seriously where, you must understand that this is the first time this has ever happened to me. Our Overseer tells us to include as much information as possible as to inform future generations to why the war happened and why the world is as it is today.

A couple of days ago Saturday October 23, 2077 every American's worst fear happened: the nuclear war. At first I couldn't believe it, I mean we'd all had the drills they were mandatory but we never thought war would happen for real. We thought that Anchorage was the last straw in this whole paranoia.

But we were wrong. Our Overseer tells us that so far no one knows which nation fired their nuclear weapons first but it doesn't matter; in the end we still got the hellhole outside that according to the radio people are coining "the Wasteland". It doesn't matter to me what they call it but I guess we need another name for hell.

Anyways back to October 23, we heard over the sirens that it was NOT a drill everyone started to run for safety but I knew where to go: the local Vault.

I had received an invitation to the local Vault 69 a few days prior however it instructed me strictly that only I was allowed, fine by me I'm sort of alone anyways. Seeing as how it said in all the films that the Vault had all you needed I didn't bother taking anything with me.

I ran to the local vault which was hidden in the local hills disguised as a mine. As I opened the door I could see in the distance the bombs falling, I quickly got inside. Inside the mine there was a large line to enter the huge gear-shaped Vault door and as I got in the Vault I noticed something: everyone there was female. I shrugged off my concerns and got in the line.

2 Mister Gutsy robots were checking everyone's invitations and I pulled mine out and they gestured for me to go in then all of a sudden we heard it: the sound of a nuclear weapon going off.

No not just one lots, as we ran inside the Vault I saw many people crying. I think we all understood that whatever was out there had no chance of survival. Then once we were all inside they closed the Vault door. We heard a large rumble in the distance as it closed. The Overseer says that's how much I'm allowed to write for today so I'll continue tomorrow.

October 29, 2077

After the door closed everyone immediately began to talk about what they had heard and what they had left behind etc. when the Overseer went towards the middle of the crowd and told everyone to calm down. The Overseer is a Caucasian brown haired sort of tall woman. She explained to everyone how it was going to be fine and how nothing could get through the Vault door and basically everything that was ever said about the Vaults.

She then explained living conditions in this Vault. She said that the women would all sleep in one section and men in the other. At this everyone started to look at me and then it occurred to me that I was the only male there. And I mean it everyone was female it seemed kind of strange to me that out of every guy in Texas I was the only guy picked for a life at Vault 69.

I shaked off my concerns to listen to the Overseer, she told us that there are (including her) 1,000 people in the Vault, 999 women and 1 man, we would all receive 3 meals a day, showers are 5 minutes long, no one was to go towards the Vault's entrance, we all had jobs in the Vault, we would all receive a device known as a Pip-Boy for personal info and that we are all required to write in journals at least once a week.

So there you have it, they gave everyone an official Vault-Tec rulebook which contains fare more rules than I'll list here.

October 30, 2077

We're having a Halloween party tomorrow which is the first event in the Vault. There'll be a costume party and the winner receives 5 boxes of Sugar Bombs cereal. I'm not exactly a big cereal guy so I'm not going to make a costume but my God the people here are going crazy for those boxes.

That's something else though, whenever I'm walking throughout the Vault and I pass someone they'll look at me and I mean it.

Overall I'm getting used to the Vault… but not the people who live in it.

November 1, 2077

Yesterday was Halloween and it was definitely the most interesting to have happened since I got here. Everyone was dressed up as something from a RobCo robot, Vault Boy, Grognak the Barbarian, etc., etc.

I just stayed in my living quarters trying to figure out how to use this blasted Pip-Boy. But after hours of toying with it I think I've figured it out, it's very intelligent for someone to come up with this. I checked the time on the Pip-Boy and it said 11:42 pm. Usually there's a curfew and everyone goes to bed at 10 but it seems like the Overseer had decided to stretch the curfew.

Then my door opened I looked up to see 3 females in costume standing there. Now I was a bit surprised, there are security terminals on the living compartments and that would mean that these girls had to have hacked it but they were certainly in no condition to do so. Even in their costumes I could see them struggling to stand, they were drunk.

But then I saw a 4th girl behind them that I previously hadn't seen a sort of shy looking girl with black hair hidden behind them, it seemed like not all of these girls were drunk. So taking the situation calmly I asked them what they were doing in my living compartment.

"Oh nothing we were just looking for some excitement" said the one closest to me, to this she and her friends giggled and they walked away except for the shy looking girl.

"I'm sorry about them, they just begged for me to take down the terminals so they could come see you" she said.

"Not a problem" I said "So you know something about terminals do you?"

"Oh yes, I used to work on them before… well you know" she replied.

We spent the night there talking about who we were and how life was for us before the Vault. Turns out her name is Anita Marton, she's 29, was a repairer on RobCo terminals, and well she was another person with a regular life like you or me. It just occurred to me that during the film clips of things like the Battle of Anchorage you rarely see the lives that war affects, all you see are scenes of victory but at what cost? Now I understand the saying that my grandfather used to say:

"War, war never changes"

It was around 2 in the morning when the Overseer came on the speakers and said (quite drunkenly too) that it was time for everyone to go to bed and that someone named Alyssa Demra had won the Sugar Bombs cereal for her outstanding US military soldier costume.

I said goodbye to Anita and she said goodbye back. As I was in bed I stayed awake for some time thinking about her when finally sleep overcame me.


	2. Chapter 2

November 2, 2077

Today the Overseer had us all take this test thing called a GOAT to figure out what jobs we'd all have at the Vault. We all lined up outside a classroom and waited for hours on end after what seemed like an eternity it was finally my turn.

20 minutes later I left the classroom with a slip of paper which listed my job: security guard. At first I was surprised; surely there had been a mistake because the closest thing I had ever gotten to using an actual gun was seeing one at Smithy's Firearms by my house. But then I heard that all security guards received training so my worries subsided then I heard that security guards received special privileges such as extended shower time, better meals and a room at the deluxe lounges by the Overseer's room. I do not care much for any of these except for the better meals, God I hope it's better than shit were served every fucking day.

Training is tomorrow and I don't have anything else to do so it couldn't come soon enough I guess.

November 3, 2077

I got up excited for the training, so much in fact that my toe hit the door on the way out. Did I mention that the walls are made out of steel? So much for an energetic me…

I went down to breakfast and quickly ate the oatmeal, orange juice and piece of toast they serve every morning. I sat there waiting for the bell to ring which indicated for everyone that breakfast was over. After breakfast I walked over to the Guard Barracks like it said in the instructions. There weren't too many people there; in fact I was surprised to see how few of us had been picked as guards. But then my worries subsided when I saw who else had been picked for guard duty, yep it was Anita.

I went and sat next to her and we talked about the job, funny enough she had not been expecting to become a guard either! It's strange how coincidences work. After a while I decided to take down names of everyone else who had been picked. There was Harriet Long (who I had never seen before), Geneva Jones (I had seen her in fact maybe too much, she was this sort of bossy uptight woman so how she had been picked boggled my mind), Diana Strong (I had already met Diana during lunch and I liked her so I expect for her and I to get along well, Juliana Rose, and Mia James.

A while after that the Overseer herself came in to talk to us.

"Ladies…and gentleman, being a guard of a Vault is no easy task. Some of you might find it fun, others sickening but you all have one mission: keep the Vault safe no matter what now follow me for training."

Training was 7 courses long and we were tested on (according to the Overseer) Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility and Luck (I didn't really understand luck).

In the end we all passed some higher than others but we all made it through. We were given official Vault 69 security armor and helmet, a map of the Vault uploaded to our Pip-Boys (a good thing too, I've forgotten the number of times I've gone into the Labs thinking it was the Bathroom) and finally a weapon.

Ok it wasn't a weapon like you see soldiers carry just a regular, clean and oiled to the touch 10mm pistol… still holding it in my hands gave me a sort of feeling of strength that I had never gotten. After we had gotten our new supplies, the Overseer dismissed us to our new lounges and she told us that guard duty started the very next day as soon as breakfast was over.

I spent the rest of the day moving my things from my old compartment to the new one. After everything was moved in I was about to leave when I remembered the pistol. I took it out of my holster and gave it a look. It felt neither to heavy nor too light but just right in my hands. Again that feeling of empowerment came to me. I decided to hide the gun in a safe locked by a terminal; the passcode is 2299 in case I ever forget.


	3. Chapter 3

November 4, 2077

I began my duty as a guard today and nothing really happened. I don't know what I was expecting but in the end I just walked around asking people how they were. Hopefully I'll get some excitement.

November 8, 2077

I've forgotten this journal for a while due to the lack of things to write about but I'm sure this counts. I was walking around the Vault reactor when I saw something scurrying across the ground. I quickly took my pistol and walked to where the thing had been but it was gone. I searched around for a while but I found nothing. I convinced myself that it had been a trick of the light but I'm not so sure.

November 11, 2077

Today is Veteran's Day so the Overseer had an assembly in the Main Hall to remember those who died fighting for our country. It was all very sad for me since my cousin Martin had died in the Resource War. There were others who cried too but something that angered me was seeing Geneva just sitting there laughing and joking around with her group of friends.

Not just at this but she's horrible during guard duty we all get paired with a buddy (except for when you're guarding the reactor) and I dread it whenever I get picked with her. She constantly pesters me about questions such as what I do, and what I think of others, etc. Ugh, some people just can't take a hint. Unless she stops I think I know who will be the first to feel a bullet from my gun.

November 15, 2077

Anita and I were paired together and sent to the Kitchens to investigate some strange noises coming from there the previous night. We entered the place and discovered it in disarray. Half eaten food strewn across the floor, pots and pans scattered everywhere but the thing that stood out was a 2 foot large hole in the wall near the air vents.

We reported our findings to the Overseer and she deduced that it must have been either someone's idea of a prank or something is in the Vault… all the guards have been placed on high alert and given 20 extra bullets.

November 17, 2077

The Overseer reminded us that the hole in the Kitchens is still there and asked me to go to the Storage room to get some scrap metal to repair it.

I headed down into Storage put in the pass on the terminal (6743) and went inside. I found all the scrap metal I could possibly need, I took 10 pieces and left. As I was leaving I noticed a door marked as the Armory. I stood there and looked at the door wondering about what lay inside, and then I remembered my current assignment I left and locked the place.

November 18, 2077

Repaired the hole in the kitchens.

November 22, 2077

I was walking around the Vault when I heard a yell coming from the corridor to my right. I immediately ran to where the screams were coming from and found Room #221 where 2 women were in deep argument. When they saw me they burst into yells about what had happened. From what I could gather it seemed like the person who lived in 221 was accusing her neighbor in Room #220 for going into her room and eating her 5 boxes of Sugar Bombs cereal that she had won during the Halloween costume contest.

I called via Pip-Boy and told her to take the 2 to the Overseer so I could search for evidence. I found some Sugar Bombs crumbs strewn all across the floor. It seemed obvious that the cereal had been hidden in the drawer since the crumbs were emanating from there and they lead to Room 220.

I didn't feel the need to investigate any more since it was obvious that the person in Room 220 did indeed eat the Sugar Bombs.

November 26, 2077

The chefs have been working for hours preparing the food for Thanksgiving tomorrow. Us guards are helping out by bringing up the food from Storage.

November 27, 2077

Thanksgiving was certainly a literal blast. Let's start with the bad. We all sat down to eat all the delicious food gathered on the tables at the cafeteria at noon. The Overseer was about to cut the turkey when we heard it: an unhuman hiss. Then suddenly roaches started to come from out of nowhere and they started jumping on the food to eat it. But they weren't regular roaches, I mean they looked like roaches but they were big ass motherfucking roaches! Then they started to attack us the Vault citizens.

The Overseer screamed at us to kill them but none of us had our weapons on us since all guards were due a day off since it was Thanksgiving. I ran to my room to grab my gun hidden in my safe. I opened the safe and ran back to the cafeteria.

Back there it was hell on reality. The Roaches were running around jumping on people and biting them. Lots of people had gotten up on the tables and stood there screaming while the roaches tried to jump on them. Among the people on the tables was my fellow "brave" guard Geneva. I looked around and saw fellow guards Harriet and Anita beating the Roaches with some baseball bats they had probably found. I took out the pistol and aimed for a roach and I fired. BANG! It hit the roach in the head and it fell dead. I had killed it. But there were still many left. I shot some more which proved to be rather difficult as these things had a tendency to stray away from your bullets path. Then I heard more gunshots… but I hadn't fired. I turned and saw all of the guards (except Geneva who was still screaming like a goddamned banshee) armed and ready to kill. With all of our combined help it took us around 5 minutes to clear out the cafeteria.

The Overseer ran back to her office and got on the intercom and told every citizen to get back to their rooms and the guards would accompany them. I was helping people get back to their rooms when I heard a yell coming from Room 220, the same room where the eater of the Sugar Bombs cereal lived. I ran there and gasped. There were 5 of those Roaches gathered on the person who lived there. It was too risky to shoot them so I kicked them away from her and told her to run away. Once she was gone I shot all of the Roaches dead. Then I noticed something under the bed I looked under it and discovered a hole exactly identical to the one in the Kitchens there. I realized that these Roaches were responsible for the hole in the Kitchens and they were the ones who had eaten the Sugar Bombs cereal in Room 221.

Afterwards we blocked off all entrance to the room, gave the person a new room, cooked up new food, ate (this time the guards were armed), and cleaned up any mess left.

Thanksgiving was fun.


	4. Chapter 4

November 28, 2077

The Overseer had a special ceremony today to congratulate the brave guards who had fended off the Roaches yesterday (Anita tells me that the people in the Vault are calling them "Radroaches" but I think that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard, might as well call them Big Ass Roaches) as a result there was a party in our honor. Everywhere people were congratulating the guards but I noticed everyone congratulating me. Women were lining up just to meet me shaking my hand, complementing me, giving me smiles; I just wanted to get away. So I told them I had to go to the bathroom.

I decided to wait out the party in my room; I was never one for socializing anyway. As I went to my room I discovered Anita in her room.

"Hey what are you doing here?" I asked

"Same as you don't want to face them all. They can have their fun while I sit here" she replied.

"Oh so is it ok if I join you?"

"Sure"

I stayed in here room and we talked there. Then at one point Anita got up and went to a drawer. She pulled out some beer.

"Want one?"

"Sure"

We drank more and more until all of the beer was gone. Then I blacked out.

I woke up the next morning in bed then I turned and gasped. It was Anita. Naked in bed with me next to her. I checked the time on my Pip-Boy. 11:33 am. Shit! We were due for guard duty 15 minutes ago. I was about to get out of bed when the door to the room opened and then I heard someone yelling.

"Hey Anita the Overseer says to get out-off…Oh my God"

Then with a dawning horror I realized I knew that voice. I looked up and saw Geneva. And she saw us. She ran out of the room. My mind was still racing thinking about what had happened when Anita got up. She looked at me her eyes turning wide.

"Did we-we"

"Yes"


	5. Chapter 5

November 29, 2013

I'm still reeling in from the shock of what happened yesterday. I just can't believe that I would do this.

Geneva immediately spread the word that she had caught me sleeping with Anita and almost everyone gave me looks of hatred, evil but some I believe were simply jealous. As soon as Geneva left I got up and told Anita how intensely sorry I was and that I never should have done it but she did not listen. Instead she just put on her guard clothes and left the room.

My mind was still fuming with thoughts when I decided that I still had a job to do. I went back to my room put on my guard wear, grabbed my pistol and went to the barracks. I was greeted by almost of the guards whispering and when I came in they gave me nasty looks. I saw Anita in the corner looking away from me. Then Diana, who I guess is my only friend at the moment, came up to me to talk.

"Their saying that you had sex with Anita, is it true?"

I looked around to check if anyone was listening to us and seeing as the cost was clear I decided to confirm it.

"Yes but I can explain, we had drunk a few beers and we weren't thinking right and-"

I was interrupted by the Overseer walking into the room. She read off today's list of guard pairings but she didn't mention my name. After everyone had left she said "You come with me"

I followed here until we were at her office, she gestured for me to take a seat at her desk. As I sat I looked around. The Overseer's office was definitely larger than your average Vault room and full of more furniture. There were 2 terminals in the room. One on her desk and another near the back by a large painting. She cleared her throat and began to speak.

"So there's been some word around the Vault that you slept with fellow guard Anita Marton. Is this true?"

"Yes but Overseer you must understand that we were drunk!"

"Drunk?"

"Yes Anita had a few beers in her drawer and well… we drank them all and that caused us to do it. I'm deeply sorry Overseer."

"I see… I'll have to put you two on guard probation for a week since according to the Vault rulebook under Rule 2299 it clearly states that beer drunk under no approval is illegal. Please turn in to me your guard gear and I shall have Anita's by the end of the day, you are dismissed."

And with that, I left the Overseer's room.

November 30, 2077

My guard probation began today and people noticed. Everywhere I went people pointed at me and whispered. When I had had enough I decided to just stay in my room.

As I walked to my room I passed Anita's room and I looked inside completely forgetting that she was on probation as well. I found her inside reading a book and she looked up at me. For a split second it seemed like she was going to yell at me but instead she just sighed and said "Look I'm sorry for getting mad, it was my fault too. Are we still good?"

"Yeah no it's fine I understand. I just want you to understand how sorry I am."

"I understand… but it was good wasn't it?"

I looked at her closely to see her reactions but she seemed calm so I decided to answer honestly.

"Yeah it was."

December 2, 2077

Anita and I are going out now . We decided to do so the night we talked again. And since we're on probation all we've been doing is seeing each other. For the first time in a long time, I'm happy with my life and I hope it stays that way.


	6. Chapter 6

December 6, 2077

I've been the happiest I've ever been since I got to the Vault. Anita is just… wow. She's perfect for me and I think she knows it. There's always something to talk about even if it brings back painful memories of life before the Vault.

Tomorrow I'm back on guard duty so that should be fun.

December 10, 2077

News, another Roach attack.

It happened yesterday as Diana was patrolling the Atrium. She heard some noises from around the corner and as she went to investigate she discovered a pack of Roaches. She quickly called for help via Pip-Boy and lucky for her, Harriet was near her. She found Diana and they dispatched the Roaches.

This has given us some worries. There is obviously a hole somewhere in the Vault where these Roaches are coming from and we have to find it. Afterwards I was tasked with delivering the Roaches to the Lab for study, not exactly great but I discovered something.

When I went to the Dissection Room, I passed the Morgue and I saw people carrying the body of a dead Vault citizen. She seemed young, and then I realized I had seen her at lunch the other day. Then the people saw me and they hurried along and screamed at me to run away.

I delivered the dead Roach bodies to a lone scientist who was studying them, then hurried back to the Guard rooms to tell Anita what I saw. I'm not sure how but someone in the Vault has died and I know another thing. The Overseer hasn't told us.

December 12, 2077

A day has passed and there's been no luck finding the hole where the Roaches have come from but I've been thinking about that dead Vault citizen.

Yesterday I decided to find out more about her, so I decided to go inspect the body. When I was in college, I studied to become a doctor but then my family couldn't afford it so I dropped out and became a bartender instead. But I've kept the knowledge.

I waited until it was past midnight and then snuck out. The Vault is unsettling at night but at day it's a whole other thing. The dark corridors seem to haunt you and the very air you breathe seems to hurt with every breath. Anyways I sneaked by (using what the Overseer taught us about Perception and Agility) looking for any signs of life coming my way. I was aware that there might be some danger and that my 10mm pistol might not be the best thing to use while sneaking, so I "borrowed" a baseball bat that was lying around.

Even though I've been living here for a while I still get lost occasionally so I kept pulling up my Pip-Boy to check the map, my ears open for any background noise. It was an unnerving experience.

I finally got to the doors to the Atrium only to find out that it was being guarded by, who else? Geneva! I was considering leaving when I realized that she was alone. So I decided to get sidetracked and have some fun.

I sneaked to a shelf where some bottles lay and shook them. Her head immediately went up.

"Who's there?"

She walked to where I had shook the bottles holding her pistol tightly, then we she was where the bottles lay I sneaked up and activated a terminal near her. ZING! She was trapped. The bottles were inside a storage room with doors that could be locked by terminal and I had taken advantage of that fully. Now I could inspect the body with no fear of prying eyes.

I entered the morgue and immediately found the body seeing as how it was the only dead thing there. I searched it for as much time as I would allow myself but found nothing. In fact the only thing that seemed out of place was how her entire body had turned a sort of pale yellow.

I found nothing so I headed back to my room and slept.


	7. Chapter 7

December 13, 2077

I had a day off today so I decided to spend it finding out more about the victim. I decided to check the Vault's library for a book on viruses and health conditions to find out what caused the victim's strange skin color.

After looking around for a little, I found the Vault's library and it was huge. There's books on every wall completely filling up the shelves their stacked on. I decided to search for the book under the Health section but to my surprise all the books there were gone. I went to ask the librarian for help. To my surprise she told me that all the books had been checked out by the Overseer.

Something strange is going on here. I don't want to confront the Overseer but it seems that may have to happen.

December 14, 2077

The Overseer was walking down the Labs this morning and she found Geneva still locked in the storage. I had forgotten to let her out after I was done with my nighttime sneaking. Whoops.

Geneva is being nursed back to health in the Medical Rooms as she didn't eat for a whole day.

Due to this incident the guards have been given special passes to unlock any terminal in the Vault. Nice

December 15, 2077

Geneva has gotten paranoid ever since she was locked in the room. She always has her gun out no matter where she is as she fears she'll be attacked. One of these days I swear she's going to shoot someone.

December 20, 2077

It's almost Christmas and I'm looking around for gifts for Anita and Diana. The Mister Gutsies are going around singing Christmas carols. Except they were badly programmed to so and they only know half the words to the songs, resulting in some funny made up lyrics.


	8. Chapter 8

December 21, 2077

Still looking for something to give to Anita and Diana. At first I thought I'd just give her something personal. Then I realized that I had brought nothing to the Vault except for the clothes I was wearing when the apocalypse happened.

I keep thinking about going down to the Storage room and get something for them from there. However stealing is punishable by extreme isolation here which means just you naked in a bare room by yourself for 1 month. Not sure I want to risk it.

What else is going on in the Vault? Well I'm not the only one looking for gifts. Everyone else is too and I hear some people have stolen things already. Only problem is we don't know who.

December 23, 2077

The Overseer asked me to bring up more white paint for the Christmas decorations so I went down to the Storage room again.

I found the paint… but also many other things. I found some beads I could make Anita a bracelet with, some boxes of food I could give her and many books down there. I decided to take a book named "Sights of Washington D.C" to give to Anita and I took a baseball cap to give to Diana (since she likes baseball). I grabbed all my things and got out.

December 24, 2077

The Overseer called for a party and that's what we did. Everyone in the Vault was in a festive mood especially me!

I've decided that if I'm going to live the rest of my life here, I'll live happily. We danced, we sang, we ate, told stories of life before, and drank. Then the clock struck midnight and we all went to our friends to wish them a Merry Christmas.

I gave the baseball cap to Diana and in return I got 5 extra rounds for my pistol. That's good since I was running out a little. Then I went to Anita and gave her the book. She liked and in return she gave me a beautiful golden watch. She told me the watch had been her father's and it was the only thing she had from him. I'll treasure it forever Anita.

After a while I again got tired of the party and I decided to go to sleep for the night. Anita decided to do so too. As we were walking she turned around and kissed me. I backed away a little and looked at her for a moment and then we kissed again. We stood there in the corridor grabbing each other kissing furiously. Then I told her "Let's go to my room."

Giggling she said "Okay"

We went to my room and I closed and locked the door. I turned around and I said "I have another present for you."

We stripped off our clothes and made love on the bed. We screwed for an hour and then we finished. We fell on the bed both of us sweating from our intercourse. After a while, I turned to her and whispered "I love you Anita." But she was already asleep. I kissed her forehead and then I went to sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

December 25, 2077

I woke up to find Anita still fast asleep. I smiled and got up. Christmas Day. I wonder if it still snows in a world ravaged by atomic weapons. I went outside and gasped in horror, I saw some people carrying out of a room a person. They saw me and they hurried along, I ran to them to ask what had happened but then a Mister Gutsy showed up and knocked me out.

I woke up at the Medical Rooms I saw a nurse standing over me and the Overseer standing behind her. The Overseer then dismissed the nurse. After the nurse left, she locked the door. We were alone.

"You're awake now and we're alone, I notice that you've been snooping around at night searching bodies" she told me.

"Hey I don't know what you're talking about-"

"Don't bullshit me I know what you've been up to; do you think I'm stupid? I know you locked Geneva in that room, that you stole from the Storage room, gone into a locked rooms, and that you've had sex with Anita again"

"Hey how did you?"

"I'm the Overseer I know what happens in my Vault. Everything that you've done would allow me to hold your execution for crimes against the Vault"

"No look please you don't have to do that, I have people I care about! Anita-"

"But I need your help in something that can only be accomplished by you and you alone"

This shut me up. I admit I got scared when the Overseer talked about a death sentence but she said she needed my help? I had to know.

"Ok fine I'll do anything, what do you need?"

"Well let's begin. I think you've noticed when you were sneaking around that 2 members of the Vault have unfortunately died"

I nodded my head.

"During the attack of those Roaches, they must have done something to the Vault's reactor because it's malfunctioning. It is now poisoning the Vault; this is the reason for those people's deaths. There is no way to fix the reactor without spare parts, and there was an error in the construction of the Vault and there are no spare parts. Are you seeing the problem?"

"Yes I am, how are we going to fix the reactor?"

"Well this is where you come in. There are only 2 places to get spare parts. The Vaults and the Vault-Tec Headquarters."

"Ok so you want me to go to another Vault and get some parts?"

"It's not as simple as that. I have no clue as to where the other Vaults are, their locations were not given to us."

"Ok so to the Vault-Tec Headquarters instead!"

"Yes this is what must be done… but there are some difficulties to be faced"

"Such as"

"According to our scientist's best calculations, the Vault reactor will poison and kill everyone in the Vault in a year. You have about 10 months to find the parts."

"This worries me… it seems hopeless Overseer. So where is the Vault-Tec Headquarters?"

"Washington D.C."

"So what you're saying is I have about 10 months to travel to Washington D.C, find the Vault-Tec Headquarters, get the parts, and come back?"

"Precisely."

"It's suicide. Is there any chance for survival if we don't fix the reactor?"

"There's a 2% chance of survival. Not the best odds I'm sure you're aware."

"But how will I survive out there? There must still be a hell of a lot of radiation!"

"I can help you with that. I will provide a General Atomics Radiation X Suit. They can withstand any amounts of radiation, other supplies will be provided of course. So what do you say to my proposal?"

I sat there in that chair for a long time thinking. It was obviously a death wish to do this mission. There was no guarantee that I would come back and I didn't want to die. I'm only 27 years old for Christ's sake! I want to keep living! But then I thought of all the innocent people in the Vault and realized that it wasn't just my life at stake. I thought of Anita and I knew I wanted to spend my life with her. If that was to happen, I would have to go through hardships. Now I know how the soldiers who fought on the front lines at Anchorage felt.

I looked up at the Overseer.

"I'll do it."


	10. Chapter 10

December 27, 2077

The Overseer and some other high ranking people in the Vault have planned it all. To explain my disappearance over the next few months they've told everyone in the Vault I was knocked out by a Mister Gutsy and I'm in a coma. The Overseer allowed me to tell everything to Anita though.

When I was done telling her, she started to cry and we hugged. I kissed her and told her everything was going to be all right, but to be honest I'm not so sure myself. I felt like crying too. I'm due to leave tomorrow so I've been spending my days training for what could be out there privately with the Overseer. However she allowed me to sleep in my own room today. I lay in the bed not able to go to sleep. I kept staring up at the ceiling for some reason; I must have been doing that for hours until the door to the room opened.

"Hey, can I sleep with you?"

Even though she was whispering I recognized Anita's voice as soon as she started to talk.

"Sure come here."

She got into bed with me and we lay there not talking to each other until we each fell asleep.

December 28, 2077

I got up early in the morning. I checked my watch and it said 4:00 am. It was time to leave. The Overseer had chosen the early morning because no one would see me leaving as they're all asleep. I got up off the bed and Anita's eyes immediately opened.

"Is it time?"

"Yes"

She nodded her head but she started to cry again. I wiped away her tears with my hand.

"Hey don't cry, I promise you whatever happens I'll come back. I won't leave you."

"Please don't go, stay here with me. Please"

"I have to do it. To save the Vault. I'm sorry Anita, but I promise you I'll come back."

She looked at me as if she finally understood.

"Ok but can I ask you something?"

"Of course, what is it?"

She went to her bookcase and pulled out a book. Except it wasn't just any book. It was the book I had given her "Sights of Washington D.C".

"I understand that you'll be busy searching for the parts but I've been reading about this place called Paradise Falls in the book and well my uncle worked there and he… I don't know if he died when all this happened but I was wondering if you could find him and bring him here."

"Anita of course. What does he look like?"

"Here take it"

She gave me a picture of her uncle. He was a tall man with yellow hair.

"I'll find him Anita. I have to go now."

"I understand. Goodbye."

We grabbed each other and kissed one last time. We kissed for about a minute then I leaned back from her. I went to my safe and grabbed my pistol. It was still clean.

"Goodbye Anita"

"Bye"

And I left the room.

I went outside the Vault entrance room like the Overseer had instructed me and found her there waiting along with a number of scientists.

"You're late but never mind that. Here take this, it's a backpack full of supplies you'll need for your trip." She said.

I took the bag from her and opened it. There were 200 rounds for my 10mm pistol, about 200 microfusion cells, 50 Stimpaks, 5 bottles of Buffout, 20 bottles of purified water and lots and lots of food. I realized I was still holding Anita's book so I put it in the bag.

"You'll also need this" She told me.

She handed me the Radiation suit and I put it on. At first it felt too big and baggy for me but then it shrinked down to adjust itself to my size so it was comfortable.

The Overseer explained "Just make sure NOT to get any tears in the suit as if it does get any, radiation will immediately flood into the suit and kill you. And here one last gift, straight from the armory itself."

She handed me a Laser Rifle. I grabbed it and felt it. It was in perfect condition. I of course knew how to use a Laser Rifle as I had been taught how to use one in my private training sessions with the Overseer. After I took the last of the things. She opened the door to the Vault entrance room and motioned for me to go inside.

I entered the room and the door behind me closed quickly. I waited for a while and then alarms started to go off in the room. And then the Vault door started to open. I watched as it slid slowly to the side to reveal where I was going.

The Wasteland.

I gripped my Rifle harder and walked toward the entrance. Before I left I turned around to see the Vault one last time. Then I stepped out into the world. I looked at my surroundings. There was absolutely nothing. It was barren hills devoid of life lacking any sort of green. Then I heard creaking from behind me. I turned around quickly and saw the Vault door closing, it kept going until it stopped. Vault 69 was gone to me.

I was alone.


	11. Chapter 11

December 29, 2077

That all happened yesterday. This is what's happening now. After I left the Vault I walked down a little path that led to where I used to live, Green Oats. It was just a little Texas town that was nothing good or bad. I saw the town from a distance and it looked just how I remember Green Oats, but as I got closer to the town it was obvious that it was a different story up close.

Almost all of the buildings were burned down and those that remained were hardly recognizable, I thought that the ground was softer than I remember until I realized that I was not stepping on ground but I was stepping on ash. The remains of buildings and those who lived here. I needed a moment to take it all in. I decided to find my apartments to see if they were still there so I could hopefully have a place of rest for the night.

I found them and they were damaged but not so much. The gates to the place had disappeared which I thought was pretty strange until I realized that they had melted due to the force of the bombs. I quickly found the apartment that belonged to, Number 2299; I opened the door and went inside.

Although some stuff had fallen down and broken, the place was the same as I remembered it. I found my bed intact, most of the dishware not broken and almost everything in good condition. But there was something still here that I needed. I walked to my bedroom and moved the bed to look under it. Yep it was still there, my safe where I had hidden my most important possessions. I put in the pass (2299) and it opened quickly. There I found a couple of Stimpaks, some Nuka Cola, and my keys to the Safe in the bar where I worked. I was about to walk away when I noticed something else in my safe. I reached inside and pulled out a pornographic magazine. "American Girls International". I looked at the cover; it depicted a blonde with large breasts on a bed sporting an American flag theme. I had forgotten the magazine. I had found when I was placing items in the Lost and Found box at work. It was just sitting there and no one was looking so I just took it. I still remember lying in my bed at night and looking at it for the first time. Ah fond memories.

I opened my bag and placed my newly found supplies inside along with the magazine because, hey you never know.

Afterwards I left my apartments a thought came to mind. There was no one here to enforce the law and there was a whole town in front of me. I don't know what it was but all of a sudden this feeling of want came to me and I realized all of the things I had ever seen at stores that I could have never gotten all mine now.

I ran to the nearest store, Mickey's Hardware and Tools. I walked inside and found the cash register. It was locked and I was about to leave when I realized that I had the means to open it. I took out my 10mm pistol and shot it open. It burst open revealing the green inside, I took it all and placed it in my bag. I left the store and saw night waning across the landscape and then I remembered something that the Overseer had told me in a training session.

"This is not your country as you remember it, radiation can create new species overnight beware what's out there."

I ran back to my apartment and closed the door. I went in my room dropped my bag and went to my bed. I thought I would never sleep until my eyes dropped as soon as I got into bed.

December 30, 2077

I decided that I should probably get a move on so I decided to leave Green Oats today. I packed my things and left my apartments, aware that it was probably the last time I would see them. As I was leaving the apartments I heard something growl. I got out my pistol and aimed at where the noise had come from, I could feel my heart beating quickly. Then the thing barked. BARK!

I realized that it sounded familiar; I went to where the bark had come from. There was a locked door and I broke it open. And a blue heeler breed dog ran forward except I knew that bark!

"Taylor!" I cried.

The dog came up to me and licked my face. He used to be my neighbor's dog and I would take care of him while they had things to do. I loved him and he loved me. He locked as if he had not eaten a lot so I took out a bottle of my precious water and gave him some. He quickly had a face of satisfaction and I thought "Oh what the hell?" I gave him the rest of the bottle. He quickly drank it all but he looked up at me and whined. The poor little bastard must still be hungry I thought. I went inside my neighbor's house and found some boxes of dog treats. I feed him 3 and I could see his tail wagging.

"Good boy", I said.

I was leaving when Taylor ran up to me. I could still see his tail wagging.

"You want to come with me Taylor?"

His tail wagged some more.

"Alright well let's go."

I now had a companion for my journey.


	12. Chapter 12

December 31, 2077

Finally left Green Oats today, I found it funny because as I was leaving I saw a "Don't Mess with Texas" sign. It's the little things that bring a moment of pleasure here in this shithole. Taylor is a happy dog and I'm glad I found him because I can't imagine having to take this perilous quest by myself.

Something however happened.

Before I left I stopped off at the firearms store in town. It looked mostly intact so I guessed there to be something inside. The door wouldn't open so I decided to see if there was a back entrance. I walked around the building until I found a fire exit. I turned the handle but the door was locked. I hadn't given up yet so I took out my trusty 10mm pistol and shot the door open. It opened with a slight creak. Taylor barked and he ran inside the place.

"No Taylor!"

I quickly ran inside to follow him. It was dark and I could barely see but I remembered that my Pip-Boy had a light so I turned it on. FLICK. It didn't allow me to see everything but at least I had some range of visibility. As I walked around the store I noticed something. In all the other stores I had looted everything was still there here, however everything had been taken. This gave me hope that humans had survived out here. While I didn't find everything I would have wanted I did find 40 rounds for the pistol, some extra microfusion cells, and a mine.

I saw the cash register so I walked over to take some money, and I noticed a safe right below the register. The terminal to open the safe was broken and I was about to leave it when I remembered my mine. I took it out and looked at it, it looked a little like a Jammy Dodger except bigger. I placed it on the safe and set it to explode in 10 seconds. I ran away and Taylor followed.

BOOM!

The safe broke open and I looked at the treasures inside. 5 Stimpaks, 2 Nuka Colas, piles of cash, 2 grenades and a key card. I took it all and placed it inside my bag except for the key card which I decided to put in my pocket. I was about to leave when my foot felt an odd shape. I looked at the floor and saw a carpet there; strangely enough Taylor was sniffing at it. I bent down and moved the carpet revealing a hatch. I tried to open it but it wouldn't budge, already my mind was racing with thoughts of what could be down there then I noticed a little slot by the hatch.

It looked large enough to fit a card inside. I took out the key card and slid it inside the slot. There was a brief buzzing noise and the hatch opened I could see a ladder that led down into pitch black. "Stay here" I told Taylor, he wagged his tail. I climbed down into the room.

I couldn't see shit so I turned on the Pip-Boy light, it didn't help much but at least I could somewhat see what was near me. I was in a room about as large as the Overseer's office and there were boxes everywhere stacked up. I looked in one and saw many cans of food; I checked other boxes and found that they had food too. I had struck the jackpot.

As I was placing the cans in my bag I heard Taylor bark. "Calm down boy" I said but I should have trusted Taylor's instincts. POW! Something had hit me in the head and I fell down. I could hear moving and something started to grab me and then I heard the sounds of Taylor barking then I heard a yell "Ow!" It was a human's voice but raspy. I got up and saw that it was indeed a human that had attacked me but then when he got close to me I saw his face.

He looked like a person but there was something seriously wrong with it. It looked like parts of its face and body had fallen off given it the unmistakable look of a zombie, like the ones you saw in films.

I was still getting over the shock of seeing it when I heard it speak.

"Who are you?"

I paid clearer attention to its voice and noticed it had a slightly female voice, it was a woman. I gulped and answered her.

"I mean no harm to you I was just looking for supplies, I'll just leave now."

"Kill me" she suddenly said.

"What?"

"Kill me! Please, I'm begging you my family and friends are dead I am not a human anymore I am a monster! I have nothing worth living for…please kill me." With that she fell to my feet and started sobbing.

I felt sorry for her but I didn't want to kill her, she was a person just like me. I bend down and tried to calm her down.

"Look I'm sorry, I really am but I'm not going to kill you. Everything will be fine I promise."

She stopped crying and looked up at me.

"If you won't kill me… then I'll force you to! Arghh!" She yelled with a growl in her voice.

She jumped on top of me and started to claw at my face, I tried to get up but she kept holding me down. She moved her hands to my suit and tried to claw at it. I remembered what the Overseer had said about radiation and I definitely didn't want to end up like that poor woman. I quickly socked her in the face and pushed her off. She got up quickly and yelled and unearthly scream then she ran towards me.

What I did next I will never forgive myself for. I quickly got out my pistol and shot her in the chest. She quickly fell down.

I dropped the gun and felt my hands shaking with horror at what I'd just done. Then I heard a soft wheezing, she was still alive. I walked over and saw her lying down trying hard to breathe. Her eyes were close to closing.

"Please", she groaned.

I picked up the gun from the floor.

"I'm sorry"

I aimed it for her head and pulled the trigger.

She breathed no more.

January 1, 2078

New Year.

I had taken a person's live and I will never forgive myself for it. I can't believe it.

After I killed her I left everything I had found in that room behind, before I left I closed her eyes. May she rest in peace.

I estimate that Taylor and I are now about 5 miles away from Green Oats.

Our journey continues on.


	13. Chapter 13

January 3, 2078

I was running out of dog food for Taylor so I decided to make a stop at a local Super-Duper Mart to see if I could find any food for him.

Back from the store, took 2 large bags of dog food for Taylor, and should last for the next couple of months if we're lucky.

January 18, 2078

I think this place is taking its toll on me; I sometimes have dreams of Anita and that girl I killed at night. I'm getting homesick. I wish Anita was here with me. It would be better than traveling with just a dog though I do admit that Taylor is useful. He can find things that I would never notice and alerts me to nearby danger. I don't know what else is out here but I would like to not meet any of radiation's children.

I'm getting close to the border. From there I'll have left Texas and have to travel through Arkansas, Missouri, Kentucky, Virginia, Maryland and boom Washington. DC! Then I'll have to go all the way back.

Fuck.

With only about 10 months left. I need to find a way to travel faster.

January 20, 2078

I crossed the border into Arkansas today. For some stupid reason I thought I'd be different here than in Texas but my hopes were immediately proved wrong. Just like in Texas there is barren wasteland as far as the eye can see. Huh Wasteland. Sounds like a good name for this place.

Taylor and I decided to rest at an abandoned cabin at night. Everything had been taken inside except for the bed which was fine with me as long as we had a place to sleep for the night. Taylor went to sleep quickly but I was awake for hours thinking about Anita and wondering what it was like at the Vault. I wondered if anyone else had died from the reactor's poisoning.

Then a horrible thought came to my head. What if Anita had died? What if she was the next person to die from the reactor, I had spent so much time thinking about her that I didn't realize she could die like anyone else in the Vault. Then I heard something walking outside. Taylor popped his head up and started to growl.

"Sshhh boy" I whispered quickly.

But whatever it was had heard us, we couldn't hear it walking anymore. I sat there terrified holding Taylor's mouth. I had a Geiger counter on the Pip-Boy and the radiation bar was still high, I doubted that a human could survive those conditions which didn't help comfort me in what was out there.

The thing kept on walking around the cabin and I followed the sound of its footsteps. Then it stopped, I realized too late that there was a window on the wall where it had stopped.

CRASH

I yelled as I saw the thing break the window, I was right whatever that thing was, it wasn't human. I caught a brief glimpse of its hand. It was reddish and shaped like a crab's hand. As soon as its hand came through the window, it pulled it out again. It kept circling the cabin.

We couldn't stay here together. The window was not big enough for Taylor and I to go through and I did not want to go outside with that crab-thing still out there. I stayed in the cabin for hours wondering what to do when I got an idea. I crouched on the floor and ripped of a wooden plank from the floor. I walked towards the window and threw the plank far away. My plan worked, I could hear the creature running towards where the plank had fallen.

"Come on Taylor let's go!"

I opened the door to the cabin and we ran outside but I tripped on something. I looked up and saw the crab-thing in full view. It must've figured out our trick and ran back to the cabin without us hearing it. It was a stealthy creature. The creature was horrific to look at it and gives me shivers just thinking about it. It was pale white except for its hands and it stood on two legs. It had a long spiky tail dragging from behind it and it had multiple spikes across its body. It somewhat resembled a crab and I could see 2 black eyes looking from the very top of the creature's body. Its face however was kind of hidden.

The creature started to walk quickly towards me. I quickly pulled out my pistol and shot it. The bullet hit the creature in its right hand but it didn't even stagger. It was getting closer towards me, and then I heard a familiar bark.

BARK!

I saw Taylor jump at the crab and biting it but the crab just swung its hand at Taylor sending him flying away. I saw Taylor hit a boulder and fall to the floor. He wasn't moving.

"NO TAYLOR! YOU BITCH!" I yelled at the crab. I shot it about a dozen more times but the bullets weren't affecting it at all until I realized that the crab's skin seemed to be armored. In fact its whole body appeared to be armored. That was it! I needed to find a weak spot! I looked at its entire body, killing precious seconds until it got to me when I found it. Its face wasn't armored, it was a small area that would be hard to shoot but it was my only hope. I lifted up my pistol and aimed it for its face. BANG! I missed; the bullet went flying across its shoulder. I aimed at its face again. BANG! The bullet almost nearly hit its face but hit its shoulder instead. The crab was getting close to me, this was my last chance. I aimed at it and pulled the trigger. BANG! The bullet hit it directly in the face. It staggered and started to walk towards me again but I noticed one hand was grabbing its face. I aimed and shot it again, this time the bullet hit its left eye. Its eye splattered open and I saw the creature stumbling around. It was blinded. I ran close to it and aimed my gun so it was about a foot away from it. BANG! Its face burst open and I could see green blood running down it. The creature fell to the floor. I had killed it.

I didn't have time to embellish in my victory. I ran towards Taylor, he was still lying motionless on the floor. I pushed on his chest thinking desperately of anyways to get him to move again but nothing came to my mind. I fell to the floor and wept.

BARK!

I stopped crying and looked at Taylor. He was standing above me, his tongue out and his tail wagging.

"Taylor you're alive! Come here boy!"

Taylor jumped in my arms and I hugged him keeping him close. I saw him still wagging his tail.

"Let's have a feast boy"

We went back inside the cabin and I pulled out a bunch of food and dog food and treats for Taylor. We sat there eating for the rest of the day.


	14. Chapter 14

January 25, 2078

After traveling for a while, Taylor and I came across a large river. My Pip-Boy map told me that it was called the Ouachita River. There was something wrong with the river though, its water was green. I scanned the water using the Pip-Boy and the Geiger counter shot up. The water was irradiated, but it didn't matter I still had plenty of water bottles on me.

I did not want to risk swimming across the river, so I figured that we would have to cross it some other way, needed a boat.

We walked across the shore of the river for a while until we spotted a lone canoe rental place. There were plenty of canoes still there so I picked out a red one and took some oars. We ran back to the river.

I placed the canoe on the water and placed Taylor inside before I got in. The canoe shifted a little what with my weight and the bag but it still floated. I grabbed the oars and started to canoe our way across the river. I had to admit, despite everything that had happened it was still fun doing this. Just a dog and me versus the world.

After 20 minutes we could see the shore on the other end.

"There it is Taylor" I said.

He wagged his tail and started to whine.

"What is it?"

But then something violently hit the canoe which sent it rocking back and forth, there was something in the water. It hit the canoe again this time harder. I turned around to tell Taylor something but he was gone. My heart dropped when I realized he must have fallen of the boat and that thing had grabbed him. I didn't even think twice. I pulled out my gun and dived into the water.

The water was murky and I could barely see anything through the helmet I wore. I had read somewhere that guns aren't as effective underwater as they are on land and the maximum amount of shoots you could fire underwater before the gun broke was 1. Only had 1 bullet to spare.

Then I saw something across from me, I swam towards it and I saw Taylor trying to swim up but his leg was stuck on some red plant. Then the red plant released itself from Taylor and I realized that it wasn't a plant even through the deep green water, the white of its skin seemed to be like the moon on a dark night.

It was another one of those crab creatures. I immediately started to panic, I only had 1 bullet! I aimed at its face waiting until it was directly in front of me. BANG! The bullet shot out slower than on land but it hit the crab's face nonetheless. The crab grabbed at its face and I saw it start to sink. I swam back up.

I got up and luckily enough I was on the shore on the other side of the river. But Taylor where was he?!

"TAYLOR!" I shouted.

I heard his barking and I saw him come out of the trees behind me. He licked my hand.

January 27, 2078

The constant walking is taking its toll on me and it seems on Taylor as well. I've noticed him limping a little.

January 28, 2078

I sat down to rest today on a boulder. God I was tired then Taylor started to bark, danger. I got up quickly and held out my gun but I realized why Taylor had barked. In the distance I could see the skyline of what appeared to be a large city. Survivors I thought. "Let's go Taylor!"

It took a couple of hours but we finally got to the city. It was called Little Rock; I checked my Pip-Boy map and saw that Taylor and I had already crossed half of Arkansas.

The city was creepy; it was deserted on every street and blown up atomic energy cars were on every street. There were bones on the floor every couple of feet and I swear I could hear things moving across the city. The city was large and it was surely impossible to cross it in one day so we went inside a nearby Gas Station to sleep there for the night.

January 30, 2078

Taylor and I don't seem to be any closer to the end of the city than we were when we first got here. I kept on walking and I eventually passed out on a bench. When I got up the sun was already setting, night was coming.

Taylor and I ran inside a Super Duper Mart to stay there for the night.

January 31, 2078

When I woke up I realized something was terribly wrong. Taylor wasn't near me, my bag was gone, and I was being held in handcuffs to a pipe. Then I noticed people someone in front of me. It was 3 people.

"Well look at what we've got here." Said the one in the right.

"You probably thought you'd come in here and take our things eh?" said the one on the left.

"Well you're badly mistaken you little shit cause you're in our territory now." Said the one in the middle.

"Yeah and we can do whatever we want to you now!" said the one on the right.

Then they took off their pants and they… they raped me. They didn't even care that I was a man; they stayed there and did it for hours saying snide remarks the whole time. Then they were finished with me and left the room leaving me there battered and not feeling like anything. I didn't feel like a human anymore.

February 1, 2078

I woke up this morning and checked what date it was. February 1. I had to leave and continue my mission. But then I remembered the people still inside the mart. I swore to God that I would get my vengeance on them. How was I going to get out of these handcuffs? I looked around for something to break the cuffs with but there was nothing. Then I realized I still had one thing on, the Pip-Boy. The Pip-Boy seemed to be made out of a tough metal and it was the only hope that I had so I slammed the pipe with the Pip-Boy. I saw the pipe crack but the Pip-Boy hadn't even got a dent. I started to feel a rush of joy, I hit the pipe again and it broke this time. I was free.

I still had the cuffs on though so I grabbed the piece of pipe I had broken and set off to get my things.

I crouched and walked around aware of every noise I heard. I saw a room with the door open and I peeked inside. I saw one of the people inside sleeping on the floor. I gripped the pipe hard and hit him in the head with it. CLANG! I saw blood running down his face but he was still breathing. 1down, 2 to go.

I kept on sneaking and heard another person walking down the corner. I waited and when I heard him close. I slammed the pipe against his chest. He fell to the floor. 1 to go.

I kept on sneaking and I saw the last one. He was walking across the top of the aisles with some wooden rafters he had placed there. Then I noticed he was armed with a laser rifle, my laser rifle. I aimed the pipe for foot and I threw it. It hit him in his foot and he fell off. I ran towards him and hit him with the pipe. All 3 down. I found my bag of supplies and was about to leave when I decided these people needed a bigger punishment. I dragged them all to the same room where they had raped me and cuffed them to the pipes nearby. I found the key to my handcuffs and took them off. I waited for them to wake up.

When they woke up they seemed confused then they looked up at me and I saw a look of horror in their eyes. Time for revenge.

"Well look at what we have here."

They said nothing.

"Now you probably thought you could just oh I don't know rape me and get away with it but you don't know who I am, do you?"

They said nothing.

"WELL DO YOU!?" I shouted at them.

"No sir" they all said in ragged voices.

"I am the Only One from Vault 69, I am the seeker of hope I am your bringer of your comeuppance, and I am the one responsible for your fate!"

"You ain't going to kill us are you?" one said.

I aimed my 10mm pistol at his head but I remembered the poor woman I had killed back in Green Oats. No I wouldn't kill them… well not right now.

"No I won't kill you"

They looked relieved.

"But I will make sure you never do anyone else what you did to me."

They looked at me confused until they realized what I meant.

I walked to the first guy and aimed my gun at his crotch. I fired. BANG!

"AHH SHIT! YOU MOTHERFUCKER!"

I walked to the second guy and shot him in the crotch. BANG!

I walked to the last guy, he pretty much knew what was coming and started to beg.

"NO PLEASE DON'T, I SWEAR I'LL NEVER DO IT AGAIN! I'LL DO ANYTHING!"

"Shut the fuck up then."

I fired at his crotch.

I placed the pistol in my holster, grabbed my bag and started to walk towards the exit. I could hear their cries behind me.

"WAIT DON'T LEAVE, GET THESE THINGS OF OFF US!"

I opened the exit and walked out the building. I was greeted by Taylor outside, he had been waiting for me the whole time.

"Come on Taylor, let's go."


	15. Chapter 15

February 2, 2078

I'm still in shock over what happened yesterday, I just can't believe that people have started to resort to vile actions like… rape just a few months after the world went to hell. I wonder if all humans are feral beasts on the inside.

Taylor limp is getting worse than before. I inspected him today and nothing seems to be wrong with him but he keeps limping. He's holding up our journey and I wish there was a quicker way to travel.

Then I realized, wait there is a quicker way! I checked the Pip-Boy map and it accurately showed our surroundings. I skimmed through the map of the city looking for a certain somewhere until I found it! 4 streets down from where I currently stand there's a Chryslus Motors Factory where cars such as the Corvega are… well were made. I remember seeing commercials for it on the television, I've always wanted to own a Corvega but the price of $199.999 had always well… been out of my budget. But here in the Wasteland anything is fair game as those rapists had proven…

If there was still a Corvega in the factory why travel would be much easier. It was settled for me; I packed up my bag and headed south…

A while later I could see the factory with the familiar Chryslus logo on the building, there was smoke coming from the factory and large parts of it had broken off. I remembered how on the commercials for the Corvega it mentioned that they ran on nuclear power so I guess that the people inside the factory were pretty much screwed when the bombs fell. I got to the factory door and was about to enter when I remembered that Taylor was still with me. I motioned for him to stay outside I didn't want him in danger.

"Stay here Taylor, I'll be right back"

He whined but stayed there. I nodded to him, took out my pistol and headed inside the factory.

The first thought I had when I entered the factory was how messy it was. Desks had been overturned, papers thrown across the floor and wall paint tearing down. There was a large paper on a bulletin board showing the structure of the factory and I figured that complete cars would be in the shipping area near the back of the factory.

I was nervous, my ears picked up every little noise I heard. I remembered when I was in 4th grade we took a field trip to a Nuka Cola factory, back then I was a bit of a troublemaker and I sneaked into a room I wasn't supposed to go into. The result was me almost getting shot by a security bot and getting detention for a whole month. Hell I could still remember my parents shouting at me after the school sent home the report of what I had done… then I stopped walking. I couldn't remember the way my parents had yelled at me in fact I can't remember my parents at ALL. I stood there trying to remember what they looked like and how they sounded… my mother's name was… I just couldn't remember. Then I heard a noise coming from somewhere in the factory. I put away the thought and decided I would think about it some other time.

Anyway ever since my encounter with that robot at the Nuka Cola factory I've been… well scared of them. I admit it I am genuinely scared shitless of robots; I cannot stand to be near one which always gave people easy ways to have fun with me. I remember once in Halloween when one of my friends scared me by dressing up as the robot that attacked me in the Nuka Cola factory.

Then I thought well what if there's still robots in this place? I had heard stories of bots massacring people after their programming had gone bad, I had an instant urge to head back towards the door and leave but I decided that I couldn't. I needed that Corvega.

I kept thinking when I heard what sounded like large metallic footsteps coming across the corner; I stopped dead and then from across the corner appeared a dusty Protectron.

"Please show your identification card", it said in its electronic voice.

"Err well I don't ha-"I started to say but I was interrupted.

"Please identify yourself in 5 seconds or you will meet lethal force", it said in a louder voice.

"I don't have a damn identification card I was just-"

"Commencing attack on hostile target"

Then the Protectron brought up its metallic arms and fired a laser I ducked just in time, the laser hit the wall behind me and produced a blackened hole in the wall, I definitely didn't want to be on the receiving end of that laser.

I brought out my pistol and took cover behind a desk. I turned to fire at the Protectron but when I pulled the trigger the gun gave a click. I checked the stock and realized the gun wasn't loaded; I reached into my bag to get ammo but I felt nothing. I didn't have my bag on me I looked around and saw my bag.

Right next to the damn robot.

There was no way in hell that I was going to get that close to it and I didn't have any other weapon as my laser rifle was still in the bag and the Protectron was getting closer. I was about to turn around and run for the exit when I felt something on my belt. I looked down and saw a grenade! I had totally forgotten that I even had it. Normally I wouldn't risk it but it was a time for drastic measures, I took the grenade from my belt, pulled off the pin and threw it.

In about 3 seconds it exploded and the pieces of the Protectron went flying across the room. Then I felt a sharp pain in my chest and collapsed.

I woke up groggily, my chest felt like shit then I looked down at my hands they were covered in red and the red was coming from my chest. It was blood. Then I saw something that shocked me even more. There was a rip in my suit and there was a large piece of metal coming out of it.

The suit that protected me from the horrors of radiation was now ripped. I should have never used that grenade I thought. I tried to get up but there was an immediate pain. I couldn't do anything while I still had this thing in my chest. I had to get it out.

I grabbed the metal and tried to pull it off but it hurt like crazy. I needed to get it out quickly I couldn't stand the pain no more. I grabbed it quickly and pulled it out as quickly as I could the whole time I was yelling. I had never felt pain like this in my life. After what seemed like an eternity the metal came out. I threw it away.

I limped on over to my bag and rummaged inside then I found what I was looking for: a Stimpak. I really didn't feel like getting stabbed anymore but I needed it so I braced myself and jammed it against my chest. For a second there was a sharp sting but then I felt myself getting better. After a few minutes I felt good enough to walk again. There was still however the problem with the torn suit, if it wasn't fixed I would be dead in seconds outside. Then I wondered why I wasn't dead in here already. I checked the Geiger counter on the Pip- Boy; luckily the radiation levels were low enough that they wouldn't affect me. I wouldn't exactly like having a third arm sprouting from my head.

I reloaded my pistol and put it back in my holster then I took out my laser rifle. Time to put it to good use. I kept walking around the corners through various rooms until finally I found the door to the shipping area. I turned the knob and walked into a large room full of shipping crates and trucks. There was also a large plane in the middle of the room and a runway.

I realized pretty quickly that there appeared to be no Corvegas that were still in perfect condition. Some still looked like what I had seen in the commercials but with destroyed fronts and there were some Corvegas that weren't in car shape at all the only remains left of them being large craters in the floor. I searched for what seemed like an hour but I had no luck. My eyes scanned the room and they landed on the plane. Its loading door was closed and I wondered… what if there was a car in there? I quickly ran to the plane but none of the doors would budge, I figured out that the doors were opened via control panel so I ran out of the shipping room to find the factory's control room.

After a few minutes of back tracking and corridors I found the control room. It had large screens, terminals and many chairs. In one of the chairs there was a decaying skeleton whose hand was on one particular button labeled as Plane Doors. Without a second thought I pressed the button and ran back towards the shipping room.

A few minutes later I was back. I headed quickly towards the plane, its loading door opening slowly. I was clutching my stomach grabbing my breath when I heard a noise that didn't belong to me.

RRRRR

I stood up quickly and aimed the laser rifle but at what I didn't know. I couldn't tell where the noise was coming from.

RRRRR

Then the plane's door finished unloading and I saw a dark shape coming from the cargo. The noise was coming from the plane itself and now it was heading for me whatever it was. No not whatever as I could now see clearly what was making the noise.

It was about my height, had three legs with a wheel per leg, a weapon on both of its metallic arms and a single oval gleaming red eye that partially covered by silver stripes. Then it said in a rough metallic voice:

"HOSTILE ENEMY DETECTED"

I had seen this kind of robot before, one was always standing outside of the Overseer's office back in Vault 69. There were stories told that when it came to military robotics it was the best there was. I whispered its name.

"Sentry bot…"

Then out of its left arm something fast came speeding towards me, I barely had enough time to jump out of the way. It was a rocket and the wall it hit crumbled at its very force. I had only a few seconds to hide from it so I ran behind one of the countless trucks in the room. I could hear the sound of its wheels grinding across the rough floor. I dared myself to above. I saw the plane and the trucks but could see no sign of the Sentry bot. Then I saw it appear from the corner of a truck, it was searching the room trying to find me. I aimed the laser rifle for its head and fired once.

PEW

It was a direct hit but my blast didn't affect the Sentry bot at all and now it knew where I was. It turned towards my direction and blasted another rocket. I ran out of the way as the rocket hit the car and it immediately exploded. I fired at the Sentry bot a couple more times while I was running but it didn't show any signs of having been hurt. Based on what I had learned so far in short time I had been fighting it I pieced together info about it.

Its toughest point was obviously its head so I figured that its programming must be there but the rest of its body was just as tough as well. My laser rifle was barely making any dents when I shot it. I needed something with more of a punch to hurt it. Then I heard the Sentry talking again.

"PRIMARY WEAPON EXHAUSTED, SWITCHING TO SECONDARY"

Then many laser shots started to fly over my head. I looked over to see the robot. It was now firing lasers at a rate only possible of a machine gun. I reached into my bag and pulled out a grenade and was about to pull of the pin when I had a better idea…

I went into the seat of one of the trucks and luckily the keys were still in. I flipped the keys and the engine came to life slowly but surely. At last the engine was roaring and I slammed my foot down on the pedal. The truck moved at a fast speed and I turned the wheel then I saw the Sentry bot right in front of me. I slammed the pedal even more and the truck went screeching towards the bot.

"ENEMY FOU-"

CRASH!

I jumped out of the truck just as it hit the Sentry bot. I couldn't hear the Sentry bot anymore so I walked over to the truck. My plan worked and the Sentry bot wasn't moving anymore, part of it was on fire. I looked around the room and saw that much of it was on fire. And in all this time I wasn't able to find one damn Corvega.

Then I heard another grinding noise and preparing for the worse aimed my laser rifle towards the plane. Another dark shape appeared and a Corvega came sliding out of the plane's cargo bay.


	16. Chapter 16

February 5, 2078

The Corvega was zooming across the road and Taylor had his head out the window, his tongue being blown backwards from the force of the wind. There was nothing to stop us from our travels to Washington D.C now! Well except for the astounding amount of cars on the road that we have to clear when they block our path. Turns out the Corvega can't exactly go offroad as I learned yesterday.

After I got the Corvega a couple of days ago I still needed to find a way to fix the suit. I placed some metal plates over the tear and placed super glue on the rip. Should work for a while until I find a proper way to fix the suit. Although there are some obstacles we're making good progress in our travels. We should reach Tennessee in a couple of hours.

February 10, 2078

Taylor and I have long left Arkansas and we're now traveling peacefully across Tennessee. I'm quite glad to not have to worry about deranged robots or rapists anymore.

Yet something still troubles me, why can't I remember anything about my parents? While Taylor and I drive it's the only thing I can think about. It seems like every moment that passes I forgot more and more about them. What's going on?

Based on our encounters at Little Rock I've decided to avoid any large cities. I attribute this to the fact that it's almost impossible to drive around by car on city roads due to the large number of cars still around so I'm driving around cities. So far we've had to go around Jackson and Memphis. Takes a while but it's all worth it.

February 14, 2078

When I woke up today I had one thought: Valentine's Day. It seems silly to think of something like that out here where death and monsters lurk around corners. Good thing I haven't encountered any so far.

As the days pass I wonder about Anita and how she's doing. I want nothing more than to leave this nightmare and return to her and see that loveable face and feel her warm arms around me… but that will have to wait.

I was thinking about her when a beeping noise was coming from the car. I looked at the dashboard and saw the gas meter was dangerously close to empty. Guess I have to make a gas stop. I kept on driving and saw a burned sign that informed that there was a little town called Red Wood about 2 miles away. I drove on.

Later I arrived at the town. At first I was amazed by how much it looked like Green Oats with its little diners, small streets and… well signs of the apocalypse really. I stopped at a food mart to restock my supplies but all of the food was gone and I mean all of it. Not even a can of beans.

I stopped at a police station as well in hopes of finding ammo but once again there was nothing, perhaps the supplies died along with the town's people?

As I drove around the town looking for a gas station I started to doubt that the town was empty. I swear I can feel eyes watching me out of the windows in the town's buildings. There's something else here. I finally found a gas station but there was no gas left, I even checked the little mart and there was no food left either.

I was driving in the car towards the road out of the town when I heard a yell.

"HELP!"

I stopped the car so quickly that Taylor hit the dashboard headfirst. After I checked to see that he was all right, I listened intently waiting to see if I had really heard what I thought I had just heard. Then:

"HELP PLEASE, SOMEBODY!"

There was no doubt about it somebody needed my help and fast. I drove to where the scream was coming from. A place that looked like the town hall. I got out of the car and took my pistol and many extra rounds with me. Taylor got out of the car and started to follow me.

"No Taylor", I told him.

He started to whine and looked at me with those brown begging eyes of his. I decided that oh what the hell? I guess he could come; I might need his help after all.

"Alright come on then"

I opened the door to the town hall and we ventured forth inside.

Despite the bright sun outside, it was impossibly dark inside. I turned on the Pip-Boy light and was reminded horribly of the basement/bunker back in Green Oats. I shock off the feeling and walked onwards. Taylor seemed to know where he was going so I stayed close to him. I was searching around when I heard that unearthly yell again.

"HELP, I'M OVER HERE! SOMEBODY QUICKLY!"

I ran towards the voice and finally tracked it down to a door that was labeled "Multipurpose room". I pushed the door open and then everything went to black.

I woke up, my suit wasn't on me, my limbs were tied to ropes and my first thought was "Oh not again". My view came back into focus and I saw someone standing over me. I looked up at their face and yelled out loud. Its face was almost exactly like hers… the woman I had killed. Then the person spoke in the same raspy voice and I saw he was holding a baseball bat.

"Not a pleasant sight to see am I?" it said.

I gulped hard and responded "Who are you sir?"

He laughed hard "Sir eh? I like your manners, your good etiquette will postpone what we'll be doing to you in a while"

I gulped hard again.

"By the way, for your information my name is Jack Hernandez, maybe you've heard of me?"

I shook my head and he laughed again. I started to notice that he was licking his lips every time he finished a sentence.

"Ha well there's no problem is that… I'm the mayor of this town you see, well newly appointed mayor since the last mayor was our dinner 2 weeks ago" he said and then he gave that raspy voice laugh again.

My heart was beating so fast I thought for sure I would die but I didn't so I decided to talk again.

"You're- you're a cannibal?" I said shaking.

"Now that's not a nice term is it?" he said "What am I a Jap? No I prefer the term 'survivalist' sounds much cleaner wouldn't you agree? And we all have to do it to survive now."

"We?" I answered.

"Hell yeah we, what do you think I'm the only guy left here? I got a whole town to feed and I'll be honest boy it's not thrilling having to kill someone you know or worse eating them but it's what's got to be done to survive." He said quickly.

"You ate up all of the food and now you're killing your own…" I said slowly, "Why not just go out and find more food?"

Jack's face started to turn into an angry look and I could immediately tell I had said the wrong thing.

"YOU THINK WE HAVEN'T TRIED THAT ALREADY!? LOOK WHAT HAPPENED TO US, LOOK!" He yelled.

"I'm sorry!" I replied quickly.

He walked around for a while breathing heavily apparently trying to calm down and he finally did so.

"No need to be sorry, you were just being curious and quite frankly it won't matter in a while boy." He growled then he licked his lips.

I had to get out of here now before he ate me. I tried to convince him.

"Look Mr. Jack, I'm honestly sorry about what's happened here and I understand why you're doing all of this but I need to leave. Please sir you have to I have something important I need to do for my Vault" I said quickly.

His eyes turned towards me and I saw a dark gleam in them.

"Which Vault are you from?" He asked.

"Vault 69" I blurted out before I could stop myself.

"Then when I'm done with you, I'll gather my men and pay your fellow Vault dwellers a nice visit, who knows? We might even have a feast." He said then he liked his lips.

I felt a cold rage building up in my chest and thought of Anita. No. I won't let this man get to her.

"No you won't" I said in a dark voice I didn't think I was capable of doing.

"What did you say?" He growled in his raspy voice.

"I SAID NO YOU WON'T YOU ZOMBIE-FACED FUCK! I WON'T LET YOU!" I yelled at him then I saw his face. It was pure rage.

"I think our talk ends here" he said. He went forward towards me and scratched my face. I started to feel pain and I felt blood running down my cheeks.

"Before we eat you, let's start with an appetizer. They say there's a first time for everything and I've never had dog before so this should be fun." He said then he gave a wicked grin.

My strength immediately fell as I realized what he meant.

"Taylor where is he?"

But Jack wasn't listening to me anymore. He snapped his fingers and quickly 6 people burst into the room carrying a dining table. Then a woman came in carrying Taylor, he was knocked out.

"TAYLOR!" I yelled but one of the men came up to me with duct tape and tied it around my mouth. Even though it was useless I still yelled through the tape. Taylor heard me and he woke up. He spotted me and started to bark, I kept on yelling and started to cry.

The men put the table in the middle of the room and they brought out ropes and tied Taylor down. I was still yelling. Jack walked up to Taylor and I saw him take out a large silver knife.

"Men let us gather around in prayer." He said.

They all held hands and started to pray while I kept on yelling and I prayed myself for Taylor's safety.

"Please God" I thought, "Let Taylor live, please I'm begging you!"

Jack finished praying and he brought up the knife, my eyes met Taylor's eyes on last time and he gave me a look of understanding a look that seemed to say 'My time is here'. Then Jack brought the knife down into Taylor's skin and he gave a howl as blood started to drip down the knife. I sat there against the wall crying my eyes out. Nothing mattered to me anymore, I wanted to die.

Jack brought the knife down 3 more times and Taylor was wriggling around trying to escape and then he stopped moving. I saw his eyes and saw sadness in them and then they closed. And they didn't open anymore.

"Well finally" I heard one of the men say and they all laughed. All of them except for Jack. He started to cut Taylor into pieces and served him on plates. They all ate greedily and started to like their plates.

"Mmm good, I wish there was more." Another man said.

This was the last straw for me. As though some ungodly force had given me the will to, I broke free of my ropes and ran towards the table, pure rage in my heart. I grabbed one of the knives and stabbed one of the men in the heart; he crumbled to the floor dead. Then one of the men next to me took out a gun, my 10mm pistol. My rage grew, so now he would use my own weapon against me? Well he's fucking wrong.

I pulled the knife out of the dead man's heart and slammed it against the man next to him. He fell to the floor dead as well and I took my gun back. I shot all of them quickly in a manner I never thought possible of me then only the girl remained.

"Please" she said.

I aimed the gun for her head, my finger on the trigger but I brought the gun down. She looked so much like Anita and like the girl I had killed that I spared her. I turned around ran out of the room. Jack was gone he had escaped and was nowhere to be found. He had left his knife though and I took it. Then I went back to the table and kneeled.

"I'm sorry Taylor."


	17. Chapter 17

February 15, 2078

Taylor is gone and it's all my fault. I should have never fallen for that trick that drove me in here. I should have just driven out of the town. I wish I wasn't so damn gullible. I haven't left the town yet I feel like I should stay here for now in Taylor's memory. I swear if I ever see that Jack again I'll… I'll…

That's another thing… I just killed those men. I promised myself that I'd never take another person's life after what happened with that woman and here I am… a cold blooded murderer. I should stop what would Anita think if she saw what I've done? I feel so guilty… and the fact remains that no one can stop anyone from doing this now that the law is gone. If I just killed all of these people and there are people already raping others out there, then God knows what the future of this Wasteland will be.

I'll end this journal entry here, I need to do something.

February 16, 2078

I dug Taylor a grave yesterday and today I buried what was left of him. I broke of a piece of the floorboards and wrote on it marking Taylor's grave. I wish I could have written something better but here's what I put on it.

HERE LIES TAYLOR, A MAN'S BEST FRIEND

2075- FEBRUARY 14, 2078

I've never really been a religious guy myself but I prayed for Taylor wishing him a happy life. Hopefully it's better where he is. I prayed for my safety, Anita's safety and all of the other people's safety in Vault 69, even Geneva's safety. Huh how funny to think of Geneva as a bully, she's nothing compared to what's here.

I've decided to leave tomorrow as quickly as possible. I've managed to find my supplies or what's left of them. All of my food is gone and true to Jack's word, there's none left in town. I did however find a storage room in the town hall where Jack and the town members had stockpiled their weapons and other useful supplies. I managed to find my Laser Rifle, many extra microfusion cells, a couple of assorted grenades and mines and best of all many containers full to the brim with gasoline.

I've already added to the gasoline to the car in preparation for tomorrow. There was something else I found as well, there were a couple of bottles of beer in the storage room that hadn't been drunk. I was trying to sleep tonight but I couldn't, every time I tried to sleep I saw Jack standing over Taylor with that knife of his. I decided to drink the beer as there probably wouldn't be any other time that I could. I opened the bottle and raised it high.

"To Taylor" I said. Then I started to drink.

February 17, 2078

I woke up feeling groggy and shit faced then I saw someone standing over me. You can probably guess that due to recent events what my first action was, I punched the person.

"Ow!" they said.

It was a woman's voice and my view came back to focus. There were several beer bottles strewn across the floor, I had drunk them all. I looked up at the person I had attacked she was wearing ragged clothes and though she still looked a lot like a regular woman (and quite pretty too I might add) small amounts of her skin had fallen off. She was one of the victims of radiation.

"No problem I mean I'd do the same if I were you..." she said

Her voice sounded familiar and I realized where I had heard it. I pulled out my gun, stood up and aimed it at her face.

"It was you, you were the girl who was yelling, and you brought me in here… if it wasn't for you…Taylor…" I started but once I said Taylor's name I could feel a tear running down my cheek.

She opened her mouth as if to say something but she seemed to hesitate then she talked.

"Look I'm sorry… I never agreed with what he did" she began.

I knew that "he" was Jack.

"He was forcing me to… if I didn't do what he said he would have killed me…"

"Then you should have stood up to him! You should have strong" I said angrily. "Then he wouldn't have had to die you bitch!"

For a moment she looked as if she wanted to say an insult back but she apparently changed her mind.

"I'm truly sorry for your loss and I know what it feels like" she said in a soft voice. I looked at her face and saw a tear running down it. I felt guilty; I wasn't the only one who had lost someone.

"I'm sorry" I told her "Who'd you lose if you don't mind me asking?"

She looked past me tearfully then looked back at me.

"My parents… they died in the fire from the bombs "she told me.

I felt sorry for her and regretted being angry at her. She was just trying to live life and I had been so rude as to insult her. I had a change of heart.

I sighed. "Why are you still here? I asked her.

"It felt kind of wrong just leaving you here and I wanted to say… thank you for… well not killing me to be honest." She said.

I nodded.

"I have a question to ask you." She said.

"Okay ask it." I said grimly.

"I- I'm responsible for his death… you killed all those men in front of me… you we're mad… why didn't you kill me?" she said slowly.

I already knew the answer to this question of course. I didn't kill her because she reminded me of Anita and the poor girl but it felt wrong telling her this so I decided to give a vague answer.

"You reminded me of someone I knew" I said quickly.

She nodded her head in an understanding kind of way. Then she swallowed hard and spoke again, I could tell she wanted to say something important.

"I have something else to ask you." She said carefully.

"Ok shoot" I said confidently.

"Well you didn't kill me… "She began "I'm responsible for killing the thing you cared about the most and yet you didn't kill me, I feel in… well debt to you and I wanted to help you"

I looked at her closely because I knew what she was leading to.

"What are you saying?" I asked her.

"Well you said you needed to do something for your Vault and it sounds serious and well I want to go with you, because well I don't want to stay here and I want to help in any way I can so I'm asking you to let me go with you. Can I come with you?" she said excitedly.

I had been expecting her to say this but still it came as a blow to me when she finished. I looked at her carefully. She looked nervous but optimistic. Why should I trust her and why should she trust me? She was in league with Jack and I don't think I could forgive her for that… but I saw her and I knew that she regretted it. She was asking me for a second chance and we should all give people second chances, no matter what. I knew my answer.

"Okay. You can help me on my Vault mission. You'll help me and I'll help you, and in the end we'll both benefit." I began.

She looked happy and nodded quickly.

"But understand this, if you show any signs of going to your former ways and taking advantage of my trust, I will not hesitate to kill you. Understand?"

"Yes I do." She said understandingly.

"Ok we'll you are now officially my… hmm let's see ah companion on this mission." I told her.

"Sounds great! When do we start?" She said happily.

"Today" I said but there was still something bothering me in the back of my mind something I wanted to ask her.

"Okay time for me to ask you something" I told her.

She looked surprised then she cleared her throat.

"What is it?"

"You saw me kill those men in cold-blood, yet you still want to come with me. You don't know what kind of person I am. Why do you trust me?" I finally told her.

"The night when you…lost him… you killed them all and I saw you. You were furious and dangerous but I saw past that and saw what kind of person you truly are inside. I know that inside you're a good man, one who cares for his friends. One who would die for them and that's the person I want to trust."

Her answer surprised me. Me a good man? I couldn't even save my dog for Christ's sake. I don't think of myself in the way she described me. But now I knew her answer and we had wasted enough time.

"Alright, get your things and then we'll go."

She ran off and a short while later she had a small bag with her and a knife in her belt.

"I'm ready" she said.

"Let's go then." I told her.

"Can I ask you one more thing?" She said.

"Okay what is it?" I replied.

"What's your name?" she asked curiously.

I told her my name.

"What's your name?" I asked.

It seemed like she didn't want to say it but she relented.

"Tatiana" she answered.

Tatiana. I liked that name.

I smiled at her. "Well Tatiana, come with me on this adventure."

I opened the doors to the world and we stepped out into the burning sun.


	18. Chapter 18

February 20, 2078

In the short time that I've been with Tatiana she seems to be trying to make up for… what happened but problem is she has a lot to learn. For starters she's never used a gun in her life, can't accurately tell when danger is nearby and is mostly well dead weight. Take for example yesterday when we were raiding a Super Duper Mart. There were some RadRoaches around and she ran off. I spent the rest of the day searching for her around the Mart. She's dead weight.

So I've decided to teach her how to use a weapon tomorrow.

February 21, 2078

I drove off road today and built a little firing range for her to practice on. After a quick breakfast of some Blanco Mac & Cheese and some water we got up to start. I let her borrow my 10mm for practice.

"Okay Tatiana, you've never used a weapon in your life so I'm going to teach you how to use one, got it?" I told her.

"Yeah I got it, watch me be a badass at this!" she said then she accidentally pressed the trigger and the force of the gun made it fly backwards and hit her head. I got a cloth out of my bag and started to clean the blood that was coming out of her nose with it.

"Ah see you got to be more careful with Tatiana, it's not a toy." I told her while I watched her clean herself.

"I see that now" she mumbled through cloth.

Then when the blood was all gone we were ready to try again. This time I saw she was keeping her fingers away from the trigger.

"Now hold the gun tight and keep it as still as you can, got it? Yeah like that now make sure the safety isn't on… it's that little thing by the back you got it? Keep one finger resting by the trigger and move your foot a little back. Look down the front of the gun and there you go!" I told her as I watched right behind her.

"Great! When can we start shooting stuff?" she asked excitedly.

"You see those Nuka- Cola bottles over there by the table? I've set 10 of them. That's what you'll be practicing on. Now use everything I just taught you and try to hit one of the bottles. Remember it's your first time so I don't expect you to hit anything" I said nervously.

She held the gun up high and looked down the sight intently. After a moment or two she fired and I saw the bullet explode out of the barrel. She missed and the bullet went flying off until I couldn't see it. She looked disappointed.

"Aw I really thought I was going to hit it" she said with a small frown.

"It's all right; remember it was your first time. Ready to try again?" I asked her. The frown disappeared on the spot.

"Yeah ok here I go" she said.

She did the same actions again but this time she looked more focused. Almost a minute passed and then she pulled the trigger. It hit the bottle on target and shards of broken glass went flying everywhere.

"You did it!" I said amazed.

"Hell yeah!" she yelled and she came forward and hugged me. It only lasted for a second or two before she pulled away. She saw my bewildered look.

"Oh umm sorry I just thought that you know-well" she started to say.

"No it's all fine really, just I wasn't expecting that" I cleared my throat. "Alright let's try the other bottles now."

We practiced for the rest of the day and I taught her other things such as how to reload and keeping your gun clean. By the end of our lesson she had destroyed all of the bottles and some other items I had put her to shoot. I decided to have a little celebration by getting out some boxes of Fancy Lad Snack Cakes for us to eat.

"Oh yeah, I love these!" she said happily as she took a bite.

"I've never tried them" I told her. I took a Snack Cake and bit into it. It tasted a bit creamy but was delicious, I quickly took another bite.

We sat there eating for a while not saying a word while I built a fire. Then Tatiana gulped down what she was eating.

"Where are you from?" she asked me.

I wondered for a moment whether it was safe to tell her but I decided to tell her.

"I'm from Vault 69 down in Texas." I told her.

"Oh how is it in the Vault?"

"Well it's really grey and full of people."

"Any family members there?"

"Umm no they err…. ( I still couldn't remember my parents) they're umm dead." I told her.

"Oh I'm sorry." she said and she didn't talk for a while then: "How did they die… if you don't mind?"

"They well uh died in a car crash." I said quickly.

"I'm so sorry. Are you fine or…?" she asked cautiously.

"Yeah I'm fine it was sad but I'm all good now… so your parents died in the fires?" I asked her uncomfortably.

"Yes… the sirens were ringing and everyone in town was running to the bunker beneath the town hall and my parents… they didn't get in on time…" she said "I saw them smile at me one last time and then they were gone…" I saw her eyes watering.

I looked over her figure. She looked to be in her 20s, had large brown hair that laid on her shoulders, was rather curvy and looked a little fat in the chest area. Hard to believe anyone so innocent looking could have gone through so much.

"I hope they're happy and in peace now Tatiana."

"So do I." she said.

After a while we finished the Cakes and she went to the car to sleep inside. I was lying on the floor looking up at the sky. I couldn't see anything because of how polluted the sky was. I was thinking of how horrible it would be to see your parents die in front of your own eyes. I couldn't decide which was worse, not remembering your parents or seeing them die in front of your own eyes. Then I saw a single star appear in the sky.

"Wow" I said.

I went to sleep a while later.


	19. Chapter 19

February 24, 2078

Since most of the time we're driving around in the Corvega, Tatiana and I have a lot of time to talk. But that's fine with me as I get to learn more about her.

It turns out that Tatiana had been living in Red Wood for her whole life and she's always wanted to leave to pursue her dreams but off course the world ending prevented that.

"What job did you want Tatiana?" I asked her as we were driving close to 70 miles an hour.

"Well promise not to laugh?" she asked me.

"Sure"

"I wanted to be… an actress you know like on the pictures?"

"Yeah I know."

"Sounds a little silly doesn't it?"

"Not at all, I can see you in a movie"

"Thanks, so what about you?"

"Well I wanted to be a doctor but we couldn't afford the tuition for me to keep going"

"Oh that's bad, why'd you want to become a doctor?"

"Well ever since I was little I thought about all those people who were injured in the wars and well I wanted to help them." I explained.

"How humble. You see what I mean about you being a good person?" She asked me.

"I suppose" I told her though I still didn't see myself like that.

"Yeah but anyways I was wondering-WATCH OUT!" She yelled suddenly.

I quickly looked back at the road and saw and animal crossing it. I swerved the wheel to the other direction and we crashed into a ditch.

CRASH

"Ah, shit." I groaned.

I heard a whimper of pain next to me. It was Tatiana. "Oh fuck, Tatiana are you ok?" I looked over to her, she nodded her head but I could clearly see that she was not ok. The car had bent over where she was sitting with the result that her leg was trapped underneath some metal.

"Oh let me help you out of there" I said. I grabbed her arms and tried to pull her out but she let out a yell of pain. I immediately stopped.

"It- it hurts a lot" she gasped.

"Alright I'll get you out of there just let me see where we are."

With a little effort I climbed out of the ditch and looked around. The car had fallen inside of a ditch near the road. There was farmland all around. The sky was turning dark and then I heard a cow mooing.

I turned around and saw it. This was the creature that I almost narrowly hit but it didn't look like a regular cow. It looked a little large and there was a large lump growing right next to its head. It mooed again.

"What the hell?" I whispered.

Then I heard a large boom. Thunder. That was impossible, I had never heard it out here and then I saw a crack of lightning in the distance. It struck the floor and I saw pieces of road flying up. Thunder shook again.

"What-what is it?" I could hear Tatiana's voice coming from the ditch.

Lightning came down again, this time about a mile away from us.

"Tatiana we have to get out of here!" I yelled at her.

"I'm still stuck!" she yelled in a voice of panic.

I heard thunder again. Lightning would be coming down again in a second, a while later it struck the farmland next to us and the field struck fire. We had to get out of here now. I ran back to the ditch just as rain started to fall. But there was something wrong with the rain, I saw it hit the ground and then I heard the ground sizzling. Some of the soil was starting to disintegrate. It was acid rain.

"Tatiana I'm going to get you out of there!" I yelled at her.

"Hurry!" She yelled back. The ditch started to fill with water. I was trying to figure out how to get her out of there. I had to tear the metal off of her and then pull her up to safety but how? Then I thought, check the bag! I reached inside the car and pulled out my bag from the back seat. The front hood of the car was already being engulfed by the rain.

"Come on! Hurry please!" she shouted desperately.

I was searching in the bag madly but I couldn't find anything that could possibly help then I felt a small plastic bottle. I pulled it out. It read:

BUFFOUT: QUICK AND EASY STRENGTH IN A PILL!

WARNING: TAKE 1 PILL AT A TIME, RESULTS MAY VARY. SIDE EFFECTS INCLUDE ADDICTION.

I read the label quickly. I didn't care about the 1 pill part or side effects; I needed to save Tatiana now! I pulled open the lid and chugged down all of the pills. Then I felt a pain like fire in my chest, arms and legs. I looked at my arms and saw that they were now as thick as a wrestler's arms. The Buffout had worked. Then I heard Tatiana's voice.

"Help me! It burns!" she yelled in agony.

I saw that the water had gone up to where she was and was across her feet. I jumped down into the car and felt it shake with my impact. I placed my arms to where the steel was on Tatiana and bended it over so easily it seemed like it was made out of butter. I grabbed her and the bag and I climbed out of there.

"Come on we have to run!" I yelled at her.

"I- I can't, my leg!" She said.

Her leg was obviously hurt and she was limping. Then lighting came down in a flash and hit the ditch where the car was.

"TATIANA, MOVE!" I shouted.

Then with the force of a small atomic bomb, the car blew up and Tatiana was thrown forward and she hit the road face first.

"NO!" I yelled and I ran towards her. I moved her body and saw that she was still breathing but she was singed across some of her body. But it didn't matter to me; all that mattered now was getting us somewhere safe. With the bag across my shoulder I picked her up and carried her on my arms and I started to run. The acidic rain was still coming down hard everywhere and lightning was striking down near us. I could actually feel the heat of the lightning as it blasted the road apart.

It was as if all of God's forces were hell-bent on trying to kill us. I kept on running but even with the Buffout I could feel myself getting weaker by the second. I wanted nothing more than to collapse. Soon I ran away from the road and was running across the fields heading towards what looked like a large ranch. I felt my eyes closing and then I collapsed on the floor, Tatiana fell by me. Perhaps it was my imagination but I thought I saw 2 figures coming towards me. As they get closer I tried to talk to them.

"Please, help us" I croaked.

One of the figures was Anita and I saw her smile.

"You're so close; just accept your fate and you'll forget all of this." She smiled again.

"Anita" I said weakly.

Then the other figure got closer. It was Jack.

"Come on kiddo, do me a favor and die will ya?" He said in his raspy voice.

Then my eyes closed.


End file.
